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Making Healthy Choices Nutrition |
| Back | Nutrition | Home Health Guidelines Trans Fatty Acids and Heart Disease Research continues to accumulate on the association between trans fatty acids and risk for coronary heart disease. Trans fats raise “bad” or LDL cholesterol in the body and lower the “good” or HDL cholesterol. Because of this double detrimental affect, you only need to eat a small amount, 2% of your calories or 4 to 5 grams per day, to get a major increase in risk of heart disease. The latest reported study on trans fats was made on a group of 667 elderly men living in Zutphen of the Netherlands. Researchers did careful diet analysis on each individual and then followed them for 10 years to evaluate health outcomes. They divided the group, based on their intake of trans fatty acids, into three equal groups (tertiles). The first one-third were those with the lowest intake of trans fatty acids. The last one-third were those with the highest intake, and the middle one third were in between. Setting the first group’s risk to 1.0, the middle group (tertile) had a 34% increased risk of heart disease. The group with the highest intake of trans fats had a 100% increased risk (twice the risk). See graph showing study results. In this study, a 2% increase in trans fatty acid intake resulted in a 28% increase in heart disease and a 34% increase in mortality from heart disease. This increased risk remains even after adjusting for other possible confounding variables: age, BMI, smoking, use of vitamins, alcohol, specific types of fat in the diet, dietary cholesterol, an fiber in the diet. Previous studies have found similar results
*All increased risks shown above were adjusting for other risk factors and possible confounding dietary practices and was based on only a 2% of calories increase in trans fatty acids in the diet. When researchers pooled the data for all four of these large studies (146,436 people) a 2% difference in calories from trans fatty acids resulted in a 25% increase in risk of heart disease. It is remarkable to realize that such a small change in the diet could cut our nations leading cause of death by 25%. Trans fats are formed when vegetable oil is “partially hydrogenated”. Hydrogenated fats are commonly found in most margarines, vegetable shortening, fast foods and it is the fat of choice in most convenience foods. To reduce your intake of trans fatty acids avoid typical snack foods, fast foods, deep fried foods (fries, chips, doughnuts, etc.), most baked goods (including most commercial breads, cookies, cake, and pie crust), convenience foods with added fat, and solid margarine and shortening. Look on food labels for the words, “partially hydrogenated oils”. If present, the food has trans fatty acids in it. Examples of healthy fats include foods such as nuts, seeds, unhydrogenated nut butters, avocado, and olives. All are essentially free of trans fatty acids. So are all unhydrogenated vegetable oils such as olive, soy, Canola oil, and a few trans fat free margarines such as the Spectrum brand. If you reduce your intake of trans fats by only 2% of calories (4 to 5 grams) per day you may reduce your risk of heart disease by 25% or more (the Nurse’s Health Study showed a difference in risk of 61% for women). Reference: The Lancet, Vol 357:746-51, March 10, 2001 | |
Note: All health information and guidelines are intended for healthy populations to encourage healthy lifestyles. They are not intended to take the place of advice by your doctor. If you have health problems or questions ask your doctor for specific guidance. | |
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(C) 2001 PrevMedix, LLC. Written by Don Hall, DrPH, CHES Updated 3-17-01 | |